TOURISM MINISTRY INCLUDES GAZA PERIPHERY IN LIST OF AREAS ELIGIBLE FOR FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE:THE MINISTRY WILL GRANT NIS 1 MILLION TO SMALL TOURIST BUSINESSES AND TOURIST ACCOMMODATION IN THE REGION.

In total, the ministry will allocate NIS 8 million in 2014 to residents in the periphery for tourist business development and the establishment of tourist accommodation.The grant for establishing tourist accommodation: up to 24%The grant for small tourist businesses: up to 30%

Tourism Minister Dr. Uzi Landau: "Tourist accommodation and small businesses are the core of tourism in the periphery. The Tourism Ministry which I lead will continue to encourage an increase in supply and competition and will make investments that will strengthen tourism in the periphery, create new jobs and turn the Gaza periphery into an attractive tourism destination for domestic and international tourists."

Tourism Ministry Director-General Amir Halevy: " In recent years, the Tourism Ministry has invested hundreds of millions of shekel in creating a larger and more varied tourism product in the periphery for the benefit of the wider public and in order to create new jobs - investments that have brought billions of shekels into the economy."

The Tourism Ministry has published directives concerning grant allocations for the establishment of tourism accommodation and for small tourist businesses in the Gaza periphery, Negev, Nazareth, Acre, Druze and Circassian villages and in the villages that are located along the Gospel Trail.

In keeping with the directive, the ministry will give grants of up to 24% of the total investment for the establishment of accommodation units and grants of up to 30% for the establishment of small tourist businesses. The grants will be allocated according to the following procedures:

1. Assistance in the Gaza periphery and Negev areas in keeping with the policy of the Tourism Ministry and the government to promote development of the tourism product as a means of assisting and strengthening the economic infrastructure of the communities that are under security and economic threat.

2. Assistance for communities living alongside the Gospel Trail, Nazareth, Acre and the Druze and Circassian villages of Daliat al Carmel and Ussfiya in keeping with the government decisions as related to the multi-year program for economic development of communities in the minorities sector and advancing them in terms of employment and social issues in the field of tourism.

Grants for establishing tourist accommodation:

NIS 500,000 for entrepreneurs living in Daliat al Carmel and Ussfiya

NIS 500,000 for entrepreneurs living in Nazareth

NIS 1 million for entrepreneurs living in the Negev and Gaza periphery

NIS 1 million for entrepreneurs living in the Druze and Circassian villages

NIS 1 million for entrepreneurs living in Acre

NIS 500,000 for entrepreneurs living near the Gospel Trail

Grants for developing small tourist businesses:

NIS 500,000 for entrepreneurs living in Daliat al Carmel and Ussfiya

NIS 500,000 for entrepreneurs living in Nazareth

NIS 1 million for entrepreneurs living in the Negev and Gaza periphery

NIS 1 million for entrepreneurs living in the Druze and Circassian villages

NIS 500,000 for entrepreneurs living near the Gospel Trail

Requests for assistance to be filed by 1 March 2014 to the RuralTourism Division at the Tourism Ministry